The $3.5 Million Dollar Violin

Psalm 39:5 “You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath.” 

What would happen if you put one of the worlds most talented violinists in a subway station during the morning rush hour and had him play classical music on his $3.5 million dollar violin? The New York Post did just that as an experiment to see people’s reactions. The musician’s name is Joshua Bell and that day he played some of the most beautiful and complicated classical music ever written, two pieces, one by Bach and one by Brahm. Bell plays for sold out audiences around the world, people pay hundreds of dollars to hear him play. 

On that January morning over 1000 people passed by while Bell played for 45 minutes. Seven people stopped for about a minute to listen, 27 people gave money, for a total of $32 and change. Most people passing by do not even turn to look at him. Bell said, “At a music hall, I'll get upset if someone coughs or if someone's cellphone goes off. But here, my expectations quickly diminished. I started to appreciate any acknowledgment, even a slight glance up. I was oddly grateful when someone threw in a dollar instead of change." To be noted bell makes over $1000 a minute when he plays for most audiences. One man stops and stays for three minutes, he said the music made him feel at peace and for the first time in his life he gave a street musician money. 

Bell watches the video a few weeks later and said he understands why he is not drawing a crowd but he is surprised at the number of people who pay no attention at all, “It is as if I’m invisible. Because you know what? I’m makin’ a lot of noise!” 

I recently spent an afternoon with a woman named Dorothy, she is 88 years old and is suffering from Dementia. I asked her if she thought she had lived a good life. Dorothy said, “A good life, well yes I had a good life.” She then stopped and after a few moments she said, “But it went so fast!” 

I have a friend who is retired and living on a lake, he loves to garden and work with his hands. For years he has been telling me how he just watches as all these young people are always so busy, he said, “They are always running, here and there, they don’t take time to enjoy the things around them.  They always have someplace else to be.”

Psalm 39:6 goes on to say, “We are merely moving shadows, and all our busy rushing ends in nothing. We heap up wealth, not knowing who will spend it.” If Dorothy had been in the subway station that day, I am sure she would have stopped and listened to the man and his $3.5 million violin. 

For Better or Worse

Malachi 2:16 “For I hate divorce!” says the Lord, the God of Israel. “To divorce your wife is to overwhelm her with cruelty,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “So guard your heart; do not be unfaithful to your wife.”

“I take you. To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish 'till death do us part. And hereto I pledge you my faithfulness.” These are traditional marriage vows. 

I met a woman this past week who worked in a home housing people suffering with Alzheimer's. She told me a story of a woman she took care of. This woman could no longer preform daily functions. She no longer recognized the people she loved, including her husband. She told me how the husband came to the home everyday to be with his wife. He would sit with her and hold her hand and talk to her. He would feed her and tend to her needs. Everyday he came, “for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish ‘till death do us part.” This man took his vows seriously he stood by his wife until the day she died. 

My parents were married for 56 years. In those 56 years they raised 4 children. My mom would tell you, at times it was great and at times it was extremely hard. “For better for worse, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish ‘till death do us part. When my dad was dying my mom was right there beside him walking with him through the final stage of his life. 

Twelve years ago my marriage ended in divorce. It seemed like the easy way out for both of us. It turned out to be anything but easy. There has been immeasurable pain for our two children and for both my ex-wife and myself. If you could have do-overs in life this would be mine. I have found the words of Malachi to be painfully true.

Billy Graham said this after his wife’s death. "I am so grateful to the Lord that He gave me Ruth, and especially for these last few years we've had in the mountains together. We've rekindled the romance of our youth, and my love for her continued to grow deeper every day. I will miss her terribly, and look forward even more to the day I can join her in Heaven."

February 14th Valentine’s Day, a day to celebrate love and marriage, a day to, “Rekindle the romance of your youth.” God said, “Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.”